Since 17 December, Tunisia has been the scene of widespread rioting. The unrest initially broke out in an economically disadvantaged region and was subsequently disseminated right across the country by protest movements. The authorities are reacting by going on the offensive and implementing a full security clampdown.

"During the 23 years he has been in power, Ben Ali has forgotten the country's inland regions. Now the people forgotten by the Republic are recalling themselves to its memory," so said economist Abdeljelil Bedoui in response to the riots that broke out on 17 December in the town of Sidi Bouzid in western central Tunisia.